Monday, January 23, 2006

[W + (D-d)] x TQ
M x NA

That's the mathematical equation explaining just how depressing tomorrow should be, at least according to a Brit psycho...logist. Check it out here if you want to see the whole article. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6847012/

I scoffed at the idea of a "most depressing day of the year" when my R.A. informed me of it earlier this evening, but interestingly, I've slowly turned on to the idea. Not the specific 24-hour period but the time of year. The guy behind the Jan. 24 study took into account credit card bills from Christmas coming due, botched new year's resolutions and weather conditions all coming into effect roughly one month after Christmas day. People have spend too much money on things they don't need for Christmas, people lack the motivation to meet the ridiculous expectations they set for themselves when things were fresher a little over three weeks ago and it just won't stop raining. To quote B.B. King, the thrill is gone.

What bothers me about this article is that I know most people will read it and feel justified in how they feel, little realizing what they've done to contribute to their ill feelings. People seem to have an idea that their circumstances will always dictate how they will feel. It seems our society has become a people of whiners and escape artists, rarely dealing with the problems they've created, but instead claiming the status of a victim.

And even Christians morph into "poor-me-I'm-washed-in-the blood" believers, not realizing that often times the lowest points in life come after they've fallen due to their trust in their own inadequacies. Satan wants us to think we are prisoners to ourselves; we don't have total control over our own lives so we'll never have true peace. We must get along instead of thriving in abundance.

While I believe there is something to diagnosed chemical imbalances, I'm more of a proponent of diagnosed spiritual imbalances, of which I admittedly suffer from at times. A good friend once told me that "an illness is an illness...it doesn't matter if its physical or spiritual in nature, we should seek to heal." I agree with him, but I'm a stickler, a "tough love" type of guy. I'm tired of Christians forgetting Who their strength is in favor of despair and surrender. And I'm tired of people thinking love means being easy on people. If wounds can cleanse and from a friend be trusted (Proverbs 20:30, 27:6) and if an aptly spoken word or a rebuke is like silver or gold (Proverbs 25:10-12), then shouldn't we be looking to push each other onto greater things with tact and grace instead of wallowing in the mire of despair? What if there was more beyond the bars of our own perspectives?